122: Chapter 122 Letter from the School Board of Directors

"My father isn't stupid enough to drive Dumbledore away." Draco slammed Lucius's letter onto the table, his voice kept very low, but every word trembled, "He is just applying pressure to make the school take safety seriously."

Allen didn't touch the letter, only looking at the complete "M" on the wax seal. The wax impression was pressed deep, with magical anti-tampering patterns on the silver-green edge; Lucius's mood had been stable when writing the letter, his wrist had not hesitated.

Zabini sat on the other side, holding a short note in his hand, "My mother attended last night's banquet. Five members of the Board of Governors were present, and Uncle Lucius brought a stack of joint complaints from parents; the keywords were 'inability to protect students,' 'ignoring the concerns of pure-blood families,' and 'the Headmaster is old and negligent in his duties.'"

Pansy set down her teacup, "They really are going to remove Dumbledore."

Draco turned his head sharply, "Don't make my father sound like a madman. He has a plan for everything he does."

Allen looked up, "It's precisely because he has a plan that it's more troublesome."

The fire in the Common Room was burning brightly, yet the Slytherin students were all gathered in a corner talking. After Hermione and Penelope were petrified, the Professor escort system turned the Castle into a cage driven by bells. At the end of every class, students lined up in the corridors, prefects counted heads, Professors stood at corners, and even going to the restroom required reporting.

Flint and his gang of upperclassmen had much less nonsense to say. Whenever they saw Snape pass by the end of the corridor, they would swallow the words "Heir of Slytherin" and "cleansing" back into their stomachs. Fear was sometimes more effective than school rules, especially when a Basilisk might poke its head out from the pipes.

Nott opened his small notebook, "The Headmasters Office was lit until three in the morning last night. Professor Snape went twice, Professor McGonagall once, and Professor Flitwick once. Gilderoy Lockhart also went; when he came out, he signed his name next to a portrait and was scolded by The Fat Friar."

Draco irritably crumpled the letter paper, "My father wrote that I should stay away from the second floor, not participate in student gossip, and when necessary, explain the Malfoy Family's concerns about school safety to the Professors. What's the problem with that?"

"Literally, there's no problem." Allen pushed the letter back, "The problem is that he asked you to prepare an 'explanation.' To whom would you explain it? The Professors already know about the danger, and students have no standing to be involved. The only people who would listen to your explanation would be the Board of Governors, parents, and the newspapers."

Draco's hand stopped.

Zabini continued, "My mother says that someone at The Daily Prophet is asking about Hogwarts' safety issues. If the Board of Governors makes a move, the newspapers will follow."

Pansy said in a low voice, "Students are lying in the Hospital Wing, and people outside are using it to write articles."

"The wizarding world has always been like this." Allen inserted his quill into the ink bottle, "When too few people die, politics arrives before the coffin. When many people die, politics will stand on the coffin to make speeches."

Draco's face tightened further, "Don't link my father with the Basilisk."

"I am only linking cause and effect." Allen looked at him, "Your father sent the diary into the Weasley Family's cauldron, the diary opened the Chamber of Secrets, the Basilisk petrified students, and the Board of Governors used the panic to attack Dumbledore. Every step can be explained as a coincidence, but when connected, they form a path."

Draco stood up, the legs of his chair scraping against the floor, making a harsh sound. His hands pressed against the edge of the table, he wanted to speak several times, but in the end, he only squeezed out one sentence, "He is my father."

Allen nodded, "That's why I'm saying this to you now, and not to Snape."

This sentence left Draco frozen in place. Crabbe and Goyle exchanged a look, not daring to chew their snacks. Pansy looked at Draco, wanting to persuade him, but couldn't find words that wouldn't sting him.

Nott finished copying the letter and pushed it in front of Allen, "If Dumbledore is removed from office, who takes over the school?"

"McGonagall would be the acting head, theoretically." Zabini said, "But the Board of Governors could send a supervisor, or have the Ministry of Magic intervene."

Allen wrote "Dumbledore leaves school" next to the pipe diagram, "Tom is waiting for exactly this window. Snape is strong, McGonagall is strict, but they lack Dumbledore's deterrent power. If the diary wants to finally control Ginny, it will choose a time after the Headmaster is forced to leave."

Draco sat back down, his voice lowering, "If my father removes the protective umbrella, will the Basilisk attack Slytherin?"

"Who the Basilisk attacks depends on what Tom wants." Allen said, "If he wants panic, he chooses Muggle-borns. If he wants an entrance, he chooses Ginny. If he wants Harry, he lures Harry. If he senses someone interfering, even pure-bloods can be used as corpses to write messages."

Draco folded the letter back into its original shape bit by bit, his movements slower than usual, "Can you stop it?"

"I can stop a part of it." Allen picked up Snape's essay topic, "I cannot stop politics from being stupid."

"You are talking about my father."

"I am talking about anyone who thinks the Dark Lord's relics can be restrained by family rules."

At this moment, the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room was pushed open, and a second-year student poked their head in, "Malfoy, the Dean wants to see you."

Draco stood up, his robe hem brushing against the edge of the table. When he reached the door, he paused for a moment without looking back, "If my father really does something stupid, I will survive first."

Allen watched his retreating back, "That is the first lesson a Malfoy should learn."

After Draco went to Snape's office, the discussion in the Common Room turned to more realistic matters. Pansy was responsible for the list of evening escorts among the girls, Nott updated the patrol routes for the second floor, and Zabini wrote to his mother to inquire about the date of the Board of Governors meeting. Allen wrote the first paragraph below his essay, regarding how Dark Arts items establish dependency through dialogue.

"You write as if you've seen it." Pansy took a glance.

"The diary is the specimen."

"The Dean will figure it out."

"He wanted to figure it out in the first place." Allen didn't stop writing, "Give him part of the answer, let him watch the diary. That way, we have less pressure."

Nott looked up, "Where is that diary now?"

"Snape's office, or the Headmasters Office." Allen said, "If Dumbledore examines it himself, Tom will close himself off. If Snape probes it alone, the diary will play dead. Soul fragments are best at waiting."

Zabini suddenly laughed, "You sound more and more like you're lecturing the Defense Against the Dark Arts Class Professor."

"Gilderoy Lockhart doesn't deserve to occupy the name of this subject." Allen finished writing a line, "If he were chased by the Basilisk, he would first ask the Basilisk if it wanted to take a photo."

Pansy couldn't help it; the laughter barely emerged before she suppressed it. Recently, every laugh in the Castle felt inappropriate, but Gilderoy Lockhart was worth wasting a little offense on.

At dinner, the Great Hall implemented table-by-table escorting. The Gryffindor table was missing Hermione; the empty seat was like a brick that had been dug out. Harry and Ron sat very close together, neither touching their pudding. Ginny kept her head down, cutting potatoes, the knife and fork making small sounds on the plate; Percy sat beside her, looking at her frequently.

At the teachers' table, Dumbledore was not winking and joking as usual. Several letters were placed before him, the wax seals broken, the Board of Governors' insignia visible on the outside. Professor McGonagall sat very straight, Snape spoke to her in a low voice, while Gilderoy Lockhart told the portraits beside him about how he had once dealt with "a nest of evil spirits in the pipes" in Armenia.

"Look at the teachers' table." Nott said in a low voice, "The letters have arrived."

Draco returned, sitting on Allen's right, his face paler than when he left. He didn't touch his cutlery, only saying: "The Dean asked what was written in my father's letter. I showed it to him."

Zabini stopped his fork, "You gave him everything?"

"Everything." Draco looked at his plate, "He said, if Mr. Malfoy thinks the Board of Governors understands the sounds in Hogwarts' corridors better than the Professors, he is welcome to come and patrol personally."

Pansy gasped softly, "Is the Dean furious?"

"He didn't scold me." Draco aligned his knife and fork, "This is worse than scolding."

Allen looked toward the teachers' table. Snape's gaze happened to fall, stopping between him and Draco across the entire Great Hall. Allen didn't avoid it, raising his goblet to take a sip of pumpkin juice.

Snape quickly turned away.

Dumbledore unfolded a new letter; the lines on his face didn't change, but his fingers paused for a second on the edge of the letter paper. Subsequently, he handed the letter to Professor McGonagall. After Professor McGonagall finished reading, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Owls in the Great Hall circled outside the high windows, and the second batch of letters was delivered. A grey owl landed on the Slytherin table, dropping an urgent note to Zabini.

Zabini opened it, took only one look, and pressed the paper under the table, "Tonight at nine, the Board of Governors officially arrives at Hogwarts. Uncle Lucius is leading the team."

Draco's fork hit the edge of the plate.

Over at Harry's side, they also noticed the change at the teachers' table. He whispered to Ron, "What happened?"

Ron looked at Percy. Percy's face looked terrible; he had clearly received news through prefect channels but didn't dare speak at the dinner table. The knife in Ginny's hand stopped; the black leather diary was not by her side, yet she felt as if she were being strangled by some invisible thread from afar.

Dinner ended, and students were escorted away by Professors. When the Slytherin group walked to the underground staircase, a burst of hurried footsteps came from the direction of the second floor. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick passed by in a hurry, with Gilderoy Lockhart following behind, still holding a powder-blue quill in his hand.

"The Board of Governors has arrived." Nott said.

Draco stood in the shadows of the staircase, seeing a row of lights turn on in the distant entrance hall. Lucius Malfoy's silver cane appeared in the light first, followed by his hand adjusting his robes. Behind him followed several members of the Board of Governors, their faces full of decency and judgment.

Lucius also saw Draco. He didn't walk closer, only nodding once at his son, as if confirming a piece of family property placed in its proper position.

Draco's back straightened, but his hands clenched tightly inside his sleeves.

Allen stood beside him, "Did you see clearly?"

"See what clearly?"

"He is not here to save you." Allen withdrew his gaze, "He is here to remove the old man standing in front of the Basilisk."

Draco did not speak.

In the entrance hall, Lucius raised his silver cane, his voice carrying through the corridor, "Albus, we are very sorry, but the school has reached a point where the Board of Governors must intervene."

Dumbledore walked down the stairs, his robe hem not hurried, his white beard hanging over his chest, "Regret often arrives right on time, Lucius."

The Board members entered the Castle, and the doors closed behind them. Students were herded back to their respective Common Rooms, and only the whispers of Professors and portraits remained in the corridors.

In the Portable Space, the cracked pocket watch lit up once.